“Rio” includes a statement from Nesmith’s Video Ranch production company about the production of the “clip” (as he would call it): “While editing, director Bill Dear and Nez discovered that music can take over the narrative to create continuity even when placed over discontinuous images.” After shooting a short film to accompany his single “ Rio,” Nesmith is thought to have coined the term “music video.” His career took a turn at the end of the decade. After leaving The Monkees, Nesmith recorded a string of country-rock albums that made the psychedelic country music trend of the mid-1970s more accessible to mainstream audiences. Nesmith was one of the first actors to play a rock musician in a TV show, and the original songs he wrote for the band were among the most innovative and memorable to appear on the show. For many boomers and beyond, the TV show The Monkees played a formative role in shaping their musical interests. ![]() When Mike Nesmith passed in late December, his fans mourned a unique and innovative talent. The other legacy Mike Nesmith left on popular music Nesmith’s “Rio,” considered one of the first music videos as we think of them today. Today’s GIF features Nesmith starring with John Cusack in Tapeheads. In today’s Tedium, I’m exploring Mike Nesmith’s second act as a film producer and distributor. Little did I know that the guy in the hat would be my Virgil, guiding me through pre-gentrification Downtown LA in a series of influential feature films. ![]() I began to identify with the rangy, plainspoken guy in the green wool hat whose sarcastic asides and stoic, slightly irritated facial expressions suggested that he didn’t want to be here, either. Since the other kids in my neighbor’s babysitting group loved the series, however, I had to get through it to see the Bugs Bunny cartoons I adored. The songs were cloying, and Micky and Davy’s toothy grins and loud, sing-songy speaking styles reminded me of the teachers in my special ed math class who talked down to me because I was a little behind in arithmetic. Today in Tedium: Like much of my New England-bred elder millennial cohort, I first saw The Monkees as part of an afterschool cartoon block on local UHF station WLVI-56. Check out her piece on Mike Nesmith below: ![]() Hey all, Ernie here with a piece from a new contributor, Chelsea Spear, who wanted to give a little honor to a departed pop-culture figure who perhaps never truly got his due.
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